Panther
by Hokuikai
Summary: There's a new girl in town& she's staying with the Sohmas. What is her relation with the Sohmas and Tohru? How will Akito react to her living with Shigure? Read to find out because i'm not very good with summaries at all. AkitoOC. STORY COMPLETE!
1. Panther

"Momiji! Hatsuharu!" A young girl with waist length brown hair chirped when she saw the two boys. Haru and Momiji looked at her with a smile before Momiji ran over and hugged her tightly.   
  
"Panther! Hi!" Momiji greeted in his usual sweet voice. Hatsuharu walked over with the same smile and hugged the young girl making her blush, which made Momiji laugh.  
  
"Blushing!" He pointed at the 5yr old girl. The three kids were in the Sohma's mansion being watched by two pairs of eyes, none knowing that the other was watching as well. One of the pairs belonged to Yuki Sohma, and the other belonged to Akito Sohma.  
  
"Where's Shigure, Hatori, and Ayame?"  
  
"They're at school right now." Hatsuharu looked at her calmly.  
  
"Hey, maybe you can come and meet Akito? He's the head of the family." Momiji suggested and Panther instantly frowned at the mention of the name.  
  
"Akito? Akito Sohma? He's my enemy; he killed most of my family! I don't ever want to see HIM!" Panther glared but soften and felt herself being pulled into another hug by Hatsuharu.   
  
"Don't worry, Panther. Akito...he doesn't quite know how to control himself at times, we're sorry about what he did to your family, but if you don't want to see him, we understand." Panther returned the hug but was immediately removed from the comfort. Akito ran out of his house when he heard about her family and threw her to the ground with a crazy grin.  
  
"If you don't want to die, I suggest you leave now. Next time you come back, I'll make you suffer the same thing we do." Akito's eyes held that of a crazed guy. Panther looked at him fearfully and left stumbling over her feet. Momiji and Hatsuharu were about to go after her when Akito said something that kept them.  
  
"Do you really think she likes you? She hates you, the only reason why she pretends to be your friend is because she wants to try and manipulate you. Trust me, she won't return to you." From his window, Yuki watched with curiosity about the girl. Nine years past as dark clouds gathered over the city and poured little drops of water. A 14yr old girl stood as she watched the ambulance take the last of her family away to the city morgue. She felt alone now, and she didn't have a Momiji or Hatsuharu to run to and receive comfort from. She was alone. Running away to wherever her feet carried her, Panther ended up on a train going to who knows where. At the first stop, she hopped off and just started walking off not knowing where she was going.   
  
After walking for a long time, Panther decided that it was about time she'd look for somewhere to stay. She found an abandoned building that still had some good-conditioned furnishings, bathrooms, abandoned clothes, and other stuff. She found the bathroom and found the waters still working so she took a shower before going back out to buy herself some dinner. She went back to eat her dinner at the two-story brick walled building she was going to call home for a while. After she ate, she went to sleep and waited for the next day when she would go look for a school she can attend for the while.   
  
The next morning came as Panther woke up under the morning light. Looking at her watch, she started getting into some clothes she found lying around the place. She wore her wavy hair down and left for the school wearing a pair of black jean pants and a black long sleeved shirt with a long leather trench coat over that and some black 2" high heels. Her brown eyes carried sadness but to the people that looked in them, showed nothing. Once she reached the school, it was still early and she had time to sign up for it.   
  
"Hello, may I help you?" A lady behind the office counter asked tilting her head.  
  
"I'd like to sign up for this school, please? And might I be able to attend today?" Panther asked in a soft voice as the lady started digging through a desk drawer.  
  
"Yes, you may. Of course, ma'am, here you are. Sign these and just give them to me right after you're done." The lady handed over a couple of forms for Panther to fill out. Taking the forms and sitting down, Panther filled out the sheets skipping where it said to put her address. After filling the rest out, she went back to where it said address, nearly panicked.  
  
"Oh yes, I'm sorry I forgot to ask, are you new here? Because if you are, then the school can get someone you could stay with if you like." Panther's face brightened and she gave a single nod.  
  
"Ok then. If you're done filling out those papers, excluding your address, I can take them and help you with where you'll be staying," Panther gave her the papers, "for now, these will be the classes you'll be taking; I'll take care of these forms while you're in class."  
  
"Thank you." The lady gave Panther a sheet of papers showing what her classes would be. 'Nice, like a free trial... Hope the family's nice...' Her thoughts trailed off as she read her periods.  
  
Class Schedule:  
  
Period 1: Math – Mr. Danes  
  
Period 2: Reading/Writing – Mr. Jo  
  
Period 3: Gym – Ms. Rick  
  
Lunch  
  
Period 4: Science – Ms. Janie  
  
Period 5: Homeroom – Mr. Cho  
  
Today's schedule was periods: 2--3--Lunch--5. Panther walked into her first class of the day and saw a few people in there along with the teacher. The teacher looked at her and smiled before greeting her.  
  
"Hello, I'm Mr. Jo. The office called in and told me that you'd be coming, you must be Panther?" the two shook hands.  
  
Panther's POV  
  
"Yes, I am." I said and he led me over to my assigned seat telling me about what I'd be doing in the class.  
  
"Got it?" I gave a slight nod and he left to finish whatever he was doing. I forgot I didn't bring a bag, oh well. I walked out of the class and went to explore. Down the hallways, I bumped into a cute looking girl, childishly I mean. Even though she looked to be about my age or little over, she looked childishly cute, like a little girl. Her light brown hair was down with a braid on the side and she had green eyes that made her look so adorable.  
  
"I'm sorry! I wasn't looking, please forgive me..." She continued on with a bow and I just stared with a blank face. I put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at me quieting.  
  
"Don't worry, you don't need to apologize so much." She gave me a puzzled look before knocking herself on the head with a smile.  
  
"Oh I'm so-," she laughed nervously and held out her hand, "I'm Tohru Honda." Smiling, I shook her hand and let go when a couple of girls walked up. One of them was blond, and the other had black hair that looked like green.  
  
"Hey Tohru! Who's this?" the blond eyed me suspiciously, yet calmly.  
  
"Panther, I'm new here." I introduced myself.  
  
"Panther? That's a strange- ah, I mean- I don't mean it like that- oh boy oh boy I'm sorry!" I laughed and patted her head while the other two girls looked at me strangely.  
  
"Don't worry, for the last time, stop apologizing!" We laughed.  
  
"Oh! I'm sorry, this is Arista Uotani," she gestured to the blond, "and Saki Hanajima." The black haired girl looked at me calmly but I could sense her trying to look into my head.  
  
"Are you a psychic?" I looked towards the black haired girl, Hana, and she gave a surprised look.  
  
"How did you know that?" Hana stared suspiciously and tried to get into my mind. Gasping, Saki Hanajima wasn't able to get through my mind barriers, in other words she couldn't see in my head.  
  
"I have my ways," I grinned mischievously and looked at my watch, "Well, I better be going. Class starts in a few you know." I left the three girls to watch me leave suspiciously. The last thing I heard from them before turning the corner was,  
  
"Tohru, I think you should be careful around that girl. I couldn't get into her mind; that means she knows how to create mind barriers and possibly be able to get into other people's thoughts or maybe even shock them, like I do. I also sense strange electric waves coming from her. She is not our ordinary high school student."  
  
'Oh wait. I don't really have that much things...Oh why did I run away from home? Why? Let's see, the only things I found at that place was about: five outfits that actually fit me, some unused bath items...why would someone leave that behind? A brush, and a pair of sandals along with the sheets that still need washing. I really do need a place to stay. What will they think when I come over and they find that I hardly have anything? Oh why is life so cruel?' I sighed deciding that I'd just tell them the truth of what happened to me. 'But that's not like me at all! I don't know...' I was snapped out of my thoughts when Mr. Jo dropped a heavy dictionary on top of my desk.  
  
"Ms. Panther, although you may be a new student, I will not treat you any different than I do the rest of my students. Now pay attention!" I stared at the dictionary as if it were something from a horror movie and started paying attention. In my next class, Gym, Ms. Rick was the same when I let my thoughts get the better of me. I can't believe I did that, though.  
  
"Ms. Panther, the consequence for spacing out in my class results to 10 laps on the track. Start running." I did as told and let the wind move freely around me. That's when I saw a boy with grey hair and purple eyes; 'Prince' Yuki Sohma is what his fan club called him. Then I saw another boy with orange hair and dark maroon eyes; the cousin of Yuki Sohma, Kyo Sohma.  
  
I took a glance at them and noticed the one known as Kyo catching up to me. It's only been 2 ½ minutes and I was already on my third lap, even though the track was nearly a mile long. He caught up to me and we both passed the checkpoint making it lap four; I picked up the pace and he did too. This was becoming a race; even after the amount of laps instructed to me I still raced him. We glanced at each other giving smirks that were glued on our determined faces.  
  
"You're pretty fast," I spoke loud enough for him to hear. All the students in our gym class were now watching us in amazement.  
  
"Don't think you'll win, you can't beat me!" He yelled picking up the pace as I did too. After a couple more laps we both collapsed to the ground and lied on the ground panting.  
  
"It's...a tie." I stammered and stared up at the sky after receiving a nod from Kyo Sohma. My thoughts drifted off to the last name of the prince and Kyo, Sohma. Those were the last names of Momiji and Hatsuharu...I can never forget them, ever.  
  
"Great job you two! You just made the track team," Ms. Rick chuckled before tossing us some towels and saying, "Go take a shower, you two look beat." Oh goody, that must mean that lunch was nearing. All of the gym students for this period left to go inside and take their relieving showers.  
  
After the showers, the other students and I met in the indoor gym with Ms. Rick I sat on the floor and listened to her lecture about being healthier and what we'd be doing the next day we have her for class. It seemed like forever that she kept us in that room; after class I went off looking for Kyo and Yuki Sohma.  
  
I found them both walking off campus with Tohru Honda; a kiddy-cute looking blond boy run up to the group and hugged Tohru. How cute...he looked just like Momiji! I felt a hand on my shoulder and was quickly spun around.  
  
"Spying on our dear little Tohru?" My face met with Uotani's murderous one. I shook my head no and tried to look at the group again, but they were gone. I gasped and released Uo's grip on my shoulder and she tried to grab hold of me again, but I had already started running. I ran for a couple seconds coming to a halt when I was in front of the Sohma's and Tohru Honda.  
  
"Wait," I looked at the boy a bit more carefully this time and tilted my head slightly, "Um...I need to know something." The four looked at me quizzically and I was about to answer, but Uo and Hana ran up to all of us.  
  
"Alright. What's going on and what do you want with Tohru?" Uo glared grabbing me by the collar.  
  
"No-  
  
"Drop her." We all turned to Saki Hanajima who only gave a blank face.  
  
"But-  
  
"She's not here to cause any trouble." Uo let go of me, "I'm sorry. We just thought you were a threat, but what was it that you were going to say?" I looked at them and smiled kindly.  
  
"Never mind." I walked away back to the school bumping into Ms. Rick. She smiled at me like she was relieved.  
  
"There you are! I've been looking all over for you, here's where you'll be staying. You're going to be staying with Yuki and Kyo Sohma. If you have any questions just ask those two, okay." I nodded taking the papers she held that had info on the Sohmas.  
  
The papers had a map to get to where they lived, the name of the house host, and other things as well. After school, I didn't even bother looking for prince Yuki or Kyo; I just followed the map and left for their house. I ended up in a beautiful forest and at a really nice looking house. I was about to knock on the door when it slid open, startling me. A man that looked to in his 20s looked at me with a smile. A man that looked all too familiar.  
  
"Shi-Shigure?!" I yelled in surprise and he started to look me down before smiling too.  
  
"PANTHER," He immediately pulled me into a tight hug. I returned the embracement and laughed a bit. "Yuki and Kyo don't know that you're staying with us, but they shouldn't mind. Oh, Panther..."  
  
"I missed you so much Shigure..." I looked at him with tear filled eyes and he clasped my hands together and we stood there. None of us really noticed the three teens walking up to the area and watching us, well I didn't notice anyways.  
  
"Why did you leave?" He gave me one of his childish voices I've heard from when we were younger.  
  
"I had to," I leaned onto him putting my head on his shoulder still keeping our hands clasped together, "I didn't want to. It's true I didn't!" I heard voices from a very small distance.  
  
"What's going on?" I looked up to see Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru standing right there looked very confused.  
  
"Panther don't ever leave us like that again. Please don't!" Yuki's eyes went wide when Shigure said my name. I don't know why though.  
  
"I won't Shigure." I smiled at him while wiping away my tears. Shigure looked at the three other occupants in the area and smiled before explaining.  
  
"You see Panther here was a dear close friend of mine. Momiji and Hotsuharu's too. Even Hatori and Ayame. And well, Akito killed most of her family-  
  
"All of them actually..." They all looked at me with shock and Shigure pulled me into another hug while continuing his explanation.  
  
"He did that, but you see from what Momiji and Hatsuharu told me, she didn't know Akito was apart of our family and well, she went to school with and knew Momiji and Hatsuharu for a while, but then she just left. I didn't know why but then Momiji told me that Akito threatened her to leave..." Silence grew. I got out of Shigure's comforting arms and stood up straight.  
  
"Where's my room?" The other three teens looked befuddled as Shigure told me where it was. I left hearing him laughing nervously and saying to them, "Oh yeah, she's staying with us. Heh heh"  
  
~*End Of Chapter*~  
  
It isn't confusing is it? By the way for those who haven't seen Fruits Basket before, Uo and Uotani and Arista are the same person, Arista is her first name, Uo is what Tohru calls her, and Uotani is her last name. Arista "Uo" Uotani.  
  
Same with Saki Hanajima: Saki is her first name, Hana is what Tohru calls her, and Hanajima is her last name. Saki "Hana" Hanajima. 


	2. Sister

A man named Akito sat on his porch in the Sohma mansion looking out at the birds around. One of them flew to him as he held out his finger for the bird to stand on. It looked at Akito, tweeting and tilting its head. He looked so pale and depressed; Akito let the bird fly off of his finger while thinking.  
  
'Hmm. That girl's family is dead now and no doubt she'll go to Shigure, if she comes here I'll get a toy to show what it's really like to be a Sohma. This should be fun...' he smirked with a psychotic chuckle escaping his lips. Akito lied onto his porch and closed his eyes, coming up with ideas on how to torture Panther.  
  
Panther woke up with a yawn under the sunlight. It was a school day and an hour before school started. Slowly, Panther started to get ready for her school changing into one of the outfits she found at the abandoned building. She left for the kitchen downstairs; Tohru was already placing dishes on the table for everyone to eat. I looked at her as she placed a couple more dishes onto the table, and then walking back into the kitchen to grab another. Tripping, Tohru nearly got everything on the floor when Panther's fast reflexes saved the rest of breakfast. Tohru opened her squinted eyes and looked straight.  
  
Panther was staring at her with a calm face, and kept Tohru from falling with two fingers being pressed against her shoulder. Tohru finally noticed she was on her toes looking like she was going to fall face-flat. She stood up staright and laughed with embarrassment as she put the dish on the table. Turning around, Tohru thanked Panther for catching her and noticed Kyo and Yuki walk in.  
  
"Oh hello Yuki and Kyo!" Panther greeted with her usual cheery voice.  
  
"Hello Ms. Honda," Yuki's eyes then filled with curiosity, "Hello Ms. Panther." Panther looked him in the eye suspiciously and slowly started walking away, step-by step, sideways. The three looked at her weirdly and she just replied with a face saying, 'freaky'.  
  
"You're scaring me," Panther finally said, "I-I have to-  
  
"Well, good morning everyone!" Shigure walked in with a big smile and immediately changed his expression when he saw Panther. Panther looked at him and let a smile creep onto her features. Lunging herself onto Shigure the two started their little act again, like yesterday.  
  
"Shigure!"  
  
"Yes Panther?" The two shrieked and looked as if they haven't seen each other for a very long time.  
  
"I'm hungry!"  
  
"Well we could go in my room and get you favorite," Shigure let go of Panther and smiled at her sheepishly. The three remaining occupants gave looks of disgust and horror.  
  
"You sick bastard!" Yuki and Kyo said in unison.  
  
"Okay!" Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru watched them leave to Shigure's room.  
  
"Is she really going to do what I think she's going to do?" Yuki asked with disbelief. A few minutes later, Panther and Shigure walked back into the dinning holding a few containers receiving stares.  
  
"WHAT!" Panther yelled in annoyance and stuck her tongue out as she left to the kitchen.  
  
"Uh, Sh-sh-Shigure..." Tohru stammered, "You didn't..."  
  
"What? Huh- Oh no! We're not like that. That'd be like molest," Shigure looked a little pale for a couple moments.  
  
"You mean like how you hit on Tohru?" Kyo ate in irritation of the situation. Shigure laughed nervously while waving his hand vertically. The kitchen door slid open and out stepped Panther with a happy grin holding a bowl.  
  
"YAY! Thanks a lot Shigure, this is my favorite!" Panther sat down at the table and licked her lips.  
  
"Well I was hoping you'd come back so I wanted you to have something enjoyable." Shigure sat down next to Panther and started eating the breafast Tohru made. Tohru looked at them and started panicking.  
  
"OH NO! Do you not like eggs and bacon? I'm sorry! I just tried to make something I thought everyone would like. I mean because, well, you just came here yesterday and I didn't think you'd hate eggs and bacon..." Tohru blabbered, but stopped when Panther knocked Tohru on top the head with her fist. Everyone stopped eating and stared at the two, Tohru looked stunned, but with an open mouthed smile; or so it looked like that.  
  
"Oh do quit blabbering. You don't need to apologize for everything you know," Panther took her fist back and continued eating.  
  
"You didn't have to hit her!" Kyo snapped and Panther looked him in the eye with a smirk caressing her lips; next thing everyone knew, he looked scared for his life. Shigure looked at Panther and pulled her ear.  
  
"OW! But Shigure!" Panther grumbled and everyone looked at the two.  
  
"Don't but me young lady," Shigure imitated a mother's voice and pointed his index finger at Panther. He was about to say something more when she bit his finger. "OW! Panther!"  
  
"Don't but me do-do brain!" Panther grinned as she gave him a triumphant look and releasing his finger from her bite.  
  
"Um...hey Panther, you know what you're wearing is against the school dress code right? You have to wear one of the uniforms..."  
  
"Oh yeah, don't worry about. Thanks for the noticed though, but I'll talk to them.  
  
"Ok." Panther turned back to her bowl almost finishing it.  
  
"Hey, Tohru?" Panther shifted in her spot and looked at Tohru. "Thanks for breakfast!" Panther gave a peace sign with her fingers before using her fork to grab some of Shigure's food. Shigure watched in horror as his food was being stolen by one of his guests.  
  
Quickly, Shigure took the plate away from Panther and pointed to her bowl of Cinnamon Oatmeal. She pouted and turned back to her own food, finishing it in seconds. After everyone finished eating breakfast, they all walked to school together. Yuki had some question to ask her, since he saw her when they were little. Right now, even though he may be a rat, his curiosity showed like a cat's.  
  
"Ms. Panther, how long have you known Shigure?" Panther grinned at Yuki's question and turned around walking backwards.  
  
"Well you see, like he said, I knew Momiji and Hatsuharu in school and we were all friends. Well, one day I bumped into them at Shigure's high school and they invited me to go and meet with their dear cousins. That when I met Shigure, Hatori...AND AYAME!" Panther laughed happily.  
  
"Hey you favor Ayame or something?" Kyo nose wrinkled at the thought, Shigure and Ayame were the same, except Ayame was more gayish kind of.  
  
"AYAME'S AWESOME! I love him dearly," Yuki and Kyo stopped dead in their tracks and turned pale, "Oh don't worry, I don't mean it like that. Well c'mon, we have to get to school now." Panther skipped to school alone giggling with the other three following a bit behind.  
  
'Funny, there Sohmas and relatives of Shigure's. They must be apart of the zodiac too, but then why wouldn't they ask why I'm able to hug Shigure without him changing? They have to be apart of the zodiac- Hey maybe that's why Yuki was looking at me like that earlier...' Panther let her trail of thoughts end as she stepped into the school.  
  
Everyone in the school looked at her and whispered about her dressing. They knew she was a new student, but all new students were able to wear casual on their first day at the school. Panther's hair was in a high ponytail that ended in mid back. She wore a slightly tight gray T-Shirt with some cargo camel pants and black shoes. Ms. Janie, science teacher, walked up to Panther.  
  
"Panther, those clothes are against the dress code. Go to the nurse's office and get a uniform please." Panther did as told, but grumbled the WHOLE way. When she got to the nurse's office, she was told to sit and wait while the nurse was on the phone.  
  
Whistling to cause annoyance, Panther waited patiently for the nurse to help her. Finally, the nurse hung up the phone and went to the closet. She brought out two uniforms identical to all the other girls' in the school. Holding them in front of Panther, the nurse asked which one would fit her.  
  
"None." Panther simply said. The nurse went back into the closet and grabbed out one smaller and one bigger than the other two sizes.  
  
"Which one?" The nurse asked. Panther decided to have some fun so she said, "None." The nurse gave a frustrated look and put the outfits back and brought out a couple more.  
  
"None." She simply replied again and the nurse dropped her hands in exasperation.  
  
"Well these are the only two left you know. What size are you?" I nearly smirked but had to hide it.  
  
"I don't like these uniforms." Panther said in a harsh tone. Panther looked the nurse in the eye with an annoyed look. Unknown to anyone else who was there, Panther looked into the nurse's mind. The nurse saw a pair of glowing blood red eyes flash in her head. It seemed that for that few seconds, those eyes were the only thing she could see, and once it disappeared, she saw Panther in front of her again.  
  
'What was that?' The nurse thought while remembering those pair of eyes that made her fear.  
  
"You may go..." The nurse said in a shaky voice while turning around to her desk and regaining composure.  
  
"Thank you." Panther left the office and to her class with an evil grin. Most of the students stopped talking about Panther and her dressing while others complained.  
  
Walking over to her seat, Panther noticed Tohru talking to Hana and Uo in the back of the class. She didn't know if they noticed her too, but she really didn't feel like talking right now. She looked about the classroom, finding Kyo sitting down and Yuki standing at the front of the class; both being bothered by those pesky fan club girls...and other people too.  
  
Sighing, Panther sank into her chair getting lost in her thoughts and falling asleep. Her mind wandered to her now dead family. She knew one of her father's friends would make a funeral for them. But even so, Panther did not go. She ran away from her city and to a city she was once happy in; the city she was in now, the one she was still happy in.  
  
"Panther!" a young female that looked to be about 16 rushed over to Panther with a worried look on her face. "Your family, they were caught in an explosion!" Panther looked at her friend Satori with wide eyes and the two ran over to Panther's house. There were firemen putting out the fire and going into the house to retrieve any one who was caught in it. Panther stared at the building before looking around the area to find Akito stepping into a nearby car.  
  
He smirked at her and let a piece of paper be carried to Panther by the wind. Panther grabbed the note and looked at it. Growling, she crumpled up the paper and held it in her now clenched fists. She was angry, but more sad to do anything. She wanted to hurt someone so badly, but when the firemen came out carrying every last of her family members, tears rolled and sirens sounded. The paramedics came and took the bodies to the city morgue. As Panther stood, the sirens started to fade as it drove off and everything seemed to darken; she heard voices.  
  
"Panther? Panther! Panther, wake up," Panther's eyes slid open and her vision became a bit sluggish, "School's begun, sleep time's over. Now pay attention." Panther's visioin became clear now and she realized what she just did. She sat up straight looking like a soldier and stared up front waiting for the day to pass. Everyone looked at her and snickered at her reaction. The class went on and so did the other classes until lunch came around the corner.  
  
Tohru, Uo, Hana, Yuki, and Kyo sat together for lunch while Panther ate alone; She didn't want to be accompanied while she ate. Uo, Yuki, Kyo, and Hana were playing 'Rich Man, Poor Man' while Tohru sat watching them. She was really thinking, though, about her past.  
  
'Let's see, Mom told me I had a sister. Funny I only think of this now, but with Panther around, it kind of seems like she is my sister; and it makes me wonder I guess. Mom said that I used to meet up with her when I was six and we'd play around and stuff, but I can't remember whom. Oh man this isn't good. How am I going to be able to try and find her if I don't even remember her name or anything. Maybe I should ask Uo and Hana for some advice...but they don't know about my younger sister. Oh my head, I can't believe I can't remember something from when I was six years old. Oh, how am I going to do this...' Tohru's head started to hurt and she fell back being caught by Hana. They all looked at her with concern as Hana put her hand on Tohru's forehead.  
  
"She's got a fever." Saki informed. Kyo was about to say something when Yuki stood up and carried Tohru bridal style.  
  
"I'll take her home." Kyo glared at Yuki with jealousy.  
  
"Do you need any help?" Yuki shook his head no before walking off to a bus stop to take Tohru home.  
  
Later on that night, when everyone came home from school, Panther didn't even bother with her acts with Shigure. She was too exhausted from all the teachers hauling her around because of her drowsiness and dressing. Kyo and Yuki made sure Tohru was all right and left to do his own things. After a while, Panther left her room and went downstairs for some chow. She saw Shigure sitting at the table drinking water.  
  
"Hey Gure." Panther yawned while walking past to the kitchen.  
  
"Oh Panther, Tohru's sick. Would you mind cooking for us?" Sighing, Panther slid the kitchen door shut without replying. Shigure knew she was going to cook, though, so he didn't worry.  
  
Fifteen minutes later dinner was ready and everyone was starving, even the poor sick little Tohru in bed. She made stew and leeches for dinner and put them on the table. Once Kyo stepped into the dinning room and smelt the leeches, he immediately covered his sensitive nose.  
  
"LEECHES! YUK!" Kyo grumbled and Panther glared at him in the eye. Kyo's vision turned pitch black and showed the pair of eyes he saw that morning when Panther stared at him. After a few moments, his vision was back to normal and he stared at Panther's grinning face.  
  
"It isn't for you, Kyo. And if it was our dinner, it'd be what you'd have to eat or you wouldn't get anything to eat at all!" Panther grabbed the bowl of leeches and a small table-tray, taking it upstairs to Tohru's room for her to eat. Everyone ate, Tohru recovered from her illness, then all went to sleep or do whatever for the night.  
  
Yuki and Kyo were sleeping, Shigure was in his office writing, Tohru was in bed resting, and Panther was in bed restless. She tried her best to fall asleep, but with all the dosing off in school she just couldn't. Throwing her covers off, she got out of bed and walked around the house stopping in front of Tohru's room. She heard a muffled voice talking. Peeking into the room, Panther could see Tohru with her hands clasped together and looking at a picture while saying things.  
  
"Mom? Please, I don't remember what little sister's name was or who she is anymore. I need help, I want to know if I still have family out there besides Grandpa. I mean, I'm thankful for his help and everything, the Sohmas too, but I just want to make sure. Oh! I almost forgot, I passed last week's exams. I'm doing fine, but it hurts," Panther left the door cracked open, so she could hear, as she sat down against the wall and listened from outside the room.  
  
"It hurts because...I've lost so much, and everyone only thinks that I'm happy...but they don't really know how sad I am. I'm trying my best to be happy for them...to make them happy. The Sohmas have done so much for me and I thank them for that. I'm happy with them, but I still wish you could be here and that people at school would stop trampling all over me," Yuki's door slid open and he stepped out to see Panther eavesdropping. Panther put a finger on her lips as if to hush him; he obeyed and stood there listening as well.  
  
"I love the Sohmas, really I do. It's just that even before the Sohmas, I was being made fun of. Guess I'm like Kisa a bit, but I remember that...when I was little, with little sister, I was still happy and she helped me. Funny, I can remember that, but I can't remember her own name." Yuki was about to step in when Panther blocked him with her arm.  
  
"Let me go in, please. I can relate, go back to bed. I'll talk to her." Panther whispered before walking into the room and shutting the door behind her. Startled, Tohru sat up in bed and her eyes met with maroon ones.  
  
"Tohru," Panther moved over to Tohru and sat on the bed next to her, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for you pain and for hitting you this morning. If this is about this morning, I like eggs and bacon, really I DO! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you at all. It's just that, you reminded me so much of my older sister, and to be honest I think you just might be. See, it wasn't till when I heard you talking just now did I start thinking about my past and family, too. The one I had here I mean. You have the same first name of my older sister and the same last name of my mother. I'm sorry," Tohru looked at Panther surprised at the information.  
  
"When I was four years old, my sister and I would play around in the park and everything. She'd take me to school with her where everyone bullied her, but I helped take care of them," Panther said the last 7 words in a triumphant voice, "that's how it was. Later, I met Momiji and Hatsuharu, but she didn't know about them...and you know how the rest of the story goes. But when I was five, I left because of Akito, I even left my mom and sister to go to my aunt's to keep my friends and family safe." Panther explained and Tohru quickly clung onto Panther and the two sat there for a couple of minutes before releasing the other.  
  
Tohru looked at Panther with tear filled eyes and the two hugged once again. Tohru's mind snapped when Panther told her about her past; she realized that Panther was her little sister. Unbeknownst to them, Yuki and Shigure were watching in through a peephole. Shigure shut the door quietly and they left the two girls alone. Inside the room, Tohru was crying on Panther's shoulder while Panther smiled calmly.  
  
"Oh Panther!" Tohru's muffled voice spoke to the younger brown haired girl.  
  
"Tohru, it's alright. At least you don't have to look anymore, right?" Tohru cried herself to sleep and Panther laid her down on the bed before leaving to sleep in her own room. Before she left, though, Panther glanced back at the older girl with a smile.  
  
"Good night, Dear Tohru." 


	3. Akito and Panther

~*Chapter 3: Akito and Panther*~  
  
It's been four days now since Panther and Tohru figured out about their sisterhood. Shigure didn't tell Akito about her, though, neither did the other Sohmas know about her being back here in the city again. Akito, however, figured she'd run back to at least one of the Sohmas for comfort. He left the Sohma Mansion without notice and headed over to Kaibara High School.  
  
Meanwhile over at Kaibara High, Panther was actually wearing the school uniform! Tohru talked her into it, and now people were staring at Panther wondering what the heck happened. The first couple of days Panther was going to the school, last week, she had been COMPLETELY lacked anything of the dress code. Now, now she was wearing the uniform...but it wasn't the whole girl's uniform. She refused to wear a skirt, so she wore the girl's top and the guy's pants.  
  
"Well it doesn't look that bad," Tohru stated with a smile. Panther turned to face Tohru as she sat in her chair, smirking and eyebrows twitching.  
  
"What do you mean 'it doesn't look that bad'? IT LOOKS A LOT BETTER THAN THE WHOLE GIRL'S UNIFORM! Ha ha!" Panther gave a peace sign and smiled showing her teeth. Everyone looked at her for a couple of moments and then went back to whatever he or she was doing.  
  
"Hey Tohru," Uo and Hana walked up to Tohru and the three started talking.  
  
"Hey Hana, hey Uo. OH! I haven't told you yet, have I?" Tohru grabbed Tohru by the arm to get her attention.  
  
"What twerp?" Panther replied bluntly.  
  
"Uo, Hana, Panther's my little sister," Tohru giggled before being put into a headlock by Panther.  
  
"Yeah and we'll be just like we were when we were little, isn't that right?" Panther gave Tohru a one second noogy and let her go before getting up. Uo and Hana gave surprised looks.  
  
"Tohru..."  
  
"Why haven't you told us this before?" Hana and Uo looked a little hurt by the news they didn't know about before.  
  
"Um well...you see..." Tohru explained what happened and hoped that the two wouldn't feel hurt.  
  
"But that-  
  
"You didn't tell us before because...you forgot who she was and you thought that if you did remember, since she is gone now, you'd be sad and we'd be worried. Correct?" Tohru nodded with a sincere smile and apologized for not telling them before.  
  
"Don't worry, we forgive you." Hana said and she hugged Tohru before Uo did. It wasn't until now did Tohru notice Panther not where she was. Looking around, Tohru couldn't find Panther, but she decided that she just left to go walk around.  
  
Tohru didn't know how right she was or how bad it was, for Panther. Panther WAS walking around, but she shockingly bumped into Akito outside of the school. Akito stood there staring at Panther with calm eyes. He was wearing his black turtle neck and dark blue jeans. Panther stood there as Akito cupped her chin with one of his hands. Smirking, Akito chuckled.  
  
"Hello Panther," Kyo walked upon the scene and watched, as well as listened carefully, from behind a wall.  
  
"Akito," Panther glared with hatred. As much as Panther wanted to hit Akito, she for some reason couldn't. Her eyes grew wide with shock as Akito pressed his lips against hers.  
  
'What the-?' Kyo was startled by the sudden action made by the head of the family. He watched as Akito parted his lips from Panther's and stared at her with a smile. Panther, on the other hand, was stunned from emotions to physical, head to toe. She was so stunned that she couldn't speak; when Akito giggled, in a manly way, Panther snapped back to reality. Akito then started walking away.  
  
Panther watched his retreating figure as she glared, noticing Kyo hiding behind the wall. She shrugged it off and started walking back to class, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"What was that about? I thought you said Akito killed your family," Kyo's voice sounded through Panther's head. She turned around and stared at Kyo not bothering to do her 'See Eyes Only in the Head' trick; the one where her victim sees a pair of eyes for couple seconds. Kyo looked around the area then at her and started to question her even more.  
  
"And how come whenever you stared at me in the eye before, I used to see a pair pained eyes? And how the heck were you able to hug Shigure without..." Kyo's words trailed as he remembered. 'Damn! That's right, she probably doesn't know about our curse.' Panther rolled her eyes as she heard the thought before knocking Kyo out. She threw him over her shoulder and carried him to the park without being seen. She stopped in a hidden spot that was surrounded by many bushes and trees. She waited for Kyo to wake up, but until then she'd sit in a tree.  
  
In the tree, Panther nearly fell asleep from the peace offered by nature; she stopped dozing off when Kyo stirred and woke up. She jumped down from the tree and slapped her hand on his mouth, hushing him. He looked at her quizzically, annoyance written almost all over his face.  
  
"I'll explain everything, just promise me you won't tell anyone please?" Panther pleaded with welling eyes. He rolled his eyes and nodded in agreement while she took her hand back.  
  
"Ok, well...Everything I told you was true, but well before Akito hurt me or my family...he and I were kind- well we were really good friends. When he told me about his curse on his family, there was someone spying on us... my uncle and father. They- I can't believe they were so immature and cruel. They started making fun of him about believing in curses and then when they found out the curse was real; when Akito and I were playing around one day, my dad took Akito and tried to kill him.  
  
"I loved my family, and I tried to keep my father and uncle Loony away from Akito, but they took him and when they didn't succeed in killing him, they decided to turn him into their guinea pig so they did all these experiments and...well I guess it kind of turned him psycho. He killed my father and uncle. And I guess he might've thought that they told the rest of my family, so he went after most of my remaining family; I was angry at him for doing that to the rest of my family, they didn't do anything to deserve him killing them.  
  
"But after that day, we started avoiding each other...and Momiji and Hatsuharu helped cheer me up when they could and soon I was getting happier...but when he threatened to kill me," Akito's voice echoed in her head, 'If you don't want to die, I suggest you leave now. Next time you come back, I'll make you suffer the same thing we do.'  
  
Kyo sat there in disbelief shock, he didn't know about Akito's relationship with Panther. Panther opened her mouth to speak.  
  
"Remember your promise, do NOT tell ANYONE about this conversation, got it?" Kyo, finally out of shock, nodded his head very slowly, forgetting about his other questions. Panther noticed that and decided not to remind him about it. Standing up, Panther waited for Kyo to follow her example before heading off to the school.  
  
It was already nearly 10 AM when Panther and Kyo got back to Kaibara High School. Going their own separate ways, Kyo gave a last glance towards Panther. He felt a little strange now with the new information he just found out. When Panther got to her class, Tohru asked her all these questions making sure she was all right. Later that day, Yuki, Panther, Tohru, and Kyo walked home bumping into Hatsuharu and Momiji.  
  
"Panther," Hatsuharu whispered when he saw the girl's face. Instead of his stoned looking face, he now held one of calm surprise.  
  
"Momiji! Hatsuharu!" Panther laughed and hugged both of them.  
  
"PANTHER! IS IT REALLY YOU?" Momiji asked with hope. She replied to him with another embracement while laughing some more. Momiji laughed, too, and Hatsuharu just hugged the girl while she hugged Momiji. Putting an arm around Haru to return his hug, the three stayed like that for a couple of moments before releasing each other.  
  
"Panther, we missed you," Hatsuharu smiled while sweeping Panther up into his arms, "please don't ever leave us like that again." Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru blinked in confusion. She didn't say anything about her and Haru being lovers.  
  
"I won't. I'll talk to Akito about it, I will." Panther smiled and left his arms. Momiji noticed a certain color tinting Panther's cheeks and he pointed.  
  
"Flushed and blush!" The color deepened as Panther's head hung for a couple of seconds. She grabbed Momiji and put him in a headlock, both laughing and wrestling. Kyo, Yuki, and Tohru looked in astonishment at Momiji; he was wrestling, he usually didn't do that. After a while, the two stopped wrestling and they all went home to Shigure's house. Hatsuharu and Momiji spent the night there and when they woke up, went to their own school.  
  
Meanwhile at the Sohma Mansion, Akito sat in his house talking with Hatori and Ayame.  
  
"You wanted to see us, Akito?" Hatori and Ayame sat on their knees.  
  
"Yes, your precious Panther is here, in case you wanted to know." Was all that Akito said. As much as Ayame wanted to shout for joy, he had to suppress it in the presence of Akito for he did not know what could happen.  
  
"Akito," Hatori looked at him suspiciously, "What are you up to?" Akito smirked.  
  
"Nothing Hatori, leave me now." Ayame and Hatori stood and left the room. As soon as they were out of Akito's house, Ayame started walking joyously and talked about how great it was to have their dear little Panther back. Hatori, however, was quietly thinking before he reminded Ayame.  
  
"He's up to something,"  
  
"Huh? What do you mean Hatori?" Ayame looked at him puzzled.  
  
"Akito, he told us about Panther being here; he's up to something and I'm going to figure it out."  
  
"You're right, he may just hurt our little Panther...that wouldn't be good."  
  
"It wouldn't be good at all." Hatori stated.  
  
The next day, while the kids were at school, Ayame and Hatori decided to visit Shigure and warn him. Soon as they got there, Shigure invited them in and they all sat in the dinning room drinking tea and talking about the situation.  
  
"Hmm, I wonder how he knew she was even here in the first place. And you say he just told you and didn't say anything else? He lest you come see her?" Ayame and Hatori nodded to Shigure's question.  
  
"Yes, it is very odd." Ayame stated.  
  
"What do you think Shigure?" Hatori took a sip of his tea waiting for an answer.  
  
"Well, I don't know. Why don't we just let this play out for a while, I'll talk to Panther when she gets home." The other two men nodded their heads and continued their day with conversations about other things.  
  
~*End Of Chapter*~  
  
Sorry this chapter isn't as long as the other ones. Later. 


	4. Something's Amiss

~*Chapter 4: Something's Amiss*~  
  
"I'm home!" Panther yelled from the front of the house. It was 12 o'clock and she was already back home from school. She went upstairs and put her things down, changing into some loose comfortable clothing. When she was done, she went downstairs looking for Shigure. She found him in the dinning room with two other men that looked familiar to her.  
  
"Oh hello, I'm sorry I didn't know you were having company Shigure. I'll leave-  
  
"Wait! You mean to tell me," Shigure glanced at the other two men, "you don't recognize these two wonderful men?" Panther looked between Hatori and Ayame a couple of times and compared them to everyone she once knew in her past, that also knew Shigure. Her face turned livid and then back to its original color. She smiled and walked over to Hatori giving him a long hug.  
  
She let him go and did the same with Ayame, except those two stared each at other dramatically for a few seconds first.  
  
"Little Panther," Ayame sounded like he was about to cry.  
  
"Yes Ayame?" Panther's throat ached from trying to hold back tears of joy.  
  
"Where were you all this time?" Ayame let go of her and the two started putting on a show for Hatori and Shigure. Shigure held a popcorn bag, pooping popcorn in his mouth and offering some to Hatori.  
  
"Oh Ayame, I'm so sorry I left you all without saying good bye. I-I..." Clear liquid escaped her eyes as she spoke, "I'm so sorry!" She lunged herself into Ayame's awaiting arms resting the side of her head on his chest.  
  
"Don't worry little Panther, I've already lost someone before, but I got to see him again and now that I see you, too, I can be even happier. Yuki, I don't think, likes me at all, but at least you do." He cried and the two continued. The door to the dinning room slid open as Yuki walked in turning pale the very second he saw Ayame.  
  
"What is he doing here?" Yuki stared at the ignoring others, who were watching Panther's and Ayame's 'Play'.  
  
"Oh my sweet little Panther,"  
  
"Ayame," the two looked at each other before giving the other a bear hug letting the tears leave its source.  
  
"Hey," Panther's head perked up, "thanks Ayame. You just gave me an idea for a play I have to write for one of Yuki's drama things. He asked me to make one for him since he had all this other stuff to do, being school president and all." Yuki looked stoned when he heard those words.  
  
'That's what she's going to put in the play? Yes, I asked her to come up with ideas, or make it, but this? THIS!' He sighed, 'Well as long as I'm not in it.'  
  
"Um, Ms. Panther, are you really going to use that for the play?" Yuki couldn't help asking whether he knew he'd be in it or not.  
  
"Maybe, if I can't think of anything else. That ok with you?" Yuki sighed with a nod. Shigure put the popcorn away and looked at Yuki and Panther.  
  
"Yuki, Panther, what are you two doing home so early anyway?"  
  
"I'm not feeling very good so I'm just going to go to bed now. I already let the school know, though." Yuki replied.  
  
"Oh no! My little brother is sick, I know! I'll get you some washcloths to put over your head and help calm the fever!" Ayame started running into the kitchen and came back out with some washcloths. He dragged Yuki upstairs and threw him, literally, into his bed. After that, Ayame took the washcloths and just remembered something.  
  
"I forgot the bowl of water. I'll be right back with it, dear brother." Ayame rushed out the door and into the kitchen, grabbing a bowl and filling it with water. When he got back upstairs with the bowl, there was hardly any water left due to all his rushing.  
  
"OH NO! Looks like I'll have to go and get more water stay right here Yuki-  
  
"WILL YOU STOP IT ALREADY!" Yuki yelled and simply fell back into his bed breathing heavily.  
  
"Oh you poor thing, now look what you've done. You're sick and yelling. You're not supposed to do tha-  
  
"Ayame." Hatori was in the doorway. He walked over to Yuki's bedside carrying his medical bag. Ayame stood knowingly and watched as Hatori listened for Yuki's heart. After a few seconds, Ayame took the bowl and walked down stairs with it, the washcloths too, and put them up. He grabbed the mop and cleaned all the water he spilled.  
  
Meanwhile, Shigure and Panther were left alone out on the porch of the dinning room. Shigure was going to ask her a few questions and all that stuff. She already told him, though, that she was home early because she was skipping the rest of the day; she said that she was getting too bored.  
  
"Panther, does Akito know about you being here?" Gasping, she turned her head to look at Shigure. Exhaling, she turned her head back to look outside. She didn't answer. Shigure sighed while closing his eyes.  
  
"You know, Hatori and Ayame came and told me that he did know. They said that he told them you were here, and he just let them go. He told them that you were here and didn't even bother to stop them..." As Shigure opened his eyes in a calming way, Panther shut hers trying to hide her tears.  
  
"I'm the dog zodiac, Panther, I can smell those tears welling up. What seems to trouble you?" Shigure looked at her and she just ran away. He stood reaching his hand out to grab her, but he was too late. She was out of arm's reach. He yelled in the house, notifying that he'd be back, before going after Panther.  
  
'Akito, what are you planning and why do you wish to do these things to me? And worse, to your own family too? Why Akito?' Her heart ached as she ran to a destination she did not plan. She stopped when she got to the front of the Sohma mansion. She looked behind her seeing no sign of anyone following her, not even Shigure whom she knew would go after her. She stepped up to the doors of the mansion, putting both her hands on the doors.  
  
'Do I really want to see him again? He killed my whole family.' She thought to herself.  
  
'But uncle and father were the ones who were trying to kill him first, so he was really just defending himself.' Her subconscious mind argued.  
  
'He still killed them; he even threatened to kill me! He even went after the rest of my family not even a month ago and they didn't even know about the curse!'  
  
'Did he know they didn't know?'  
  
'I don't know, but he could've used Hatori to erase their memories instead.'  
  
'True, but isn't it your father and uncle's faults for this happening? I mean, they did after all keep experimenting stupid stuff on him...'  
  
'So?'  
  
'So it probably made him crazy. Or maybe it was something else.'  
  
'I don't know, I'm not ready to talk to him right now.' Panther turned on her heel and walked away silently. She couldn't stop thinking about Akito and everything he's done to her. Her family; dead, her memories; forever tormenting, and her heart, it is now aching. She was close to a school when she heard its last bell ring for the day. Tears of gray clouds made its way to the grounds. She stopped in the gateway of the school and waited for all the students to come, hoping they'd just stampede all over her.  
  
'Akito,' she thought as students came out of the building in groups, 'Shigure says you let them come see me,' a worried Shigure and Tohru now came out of the building along with Kyo, Uo, and Hana.  
  
'What are you planning? I've known you long enough. If you don't want someone around, then you definitely won't let your family go anywhere near that someone. Neither would you even bother letting your family KNOW about that someone being there.' Shigure, Kyo, Tohru, Hana, and Uo searched around the school before they were going to look some place else. Panther moved from her spot in the crowd and walked to a park; her eyes were cold and questioning at the same time.  
  
'What's going on Akito? Are you planning to do something to me? WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON IN YOUR DAMN HEAD!' Growling in frustration, she was startled when she got to the park; Momiji came up to surprise her.  
  
"Hi Panther!" Momiji giggled while holding his umbrella making Panther smile a bit.  
  
"Hey Momiji," she patted his head. Tilting his head, Momiji asked, "What's the matter Panther? You don't look very happy." Sighing, she took a deep breath.  
  
"Akito," Momiji sat down on the grass, her doing the same, and listened.  
  
"He let Hatori and Ayame come see me,"  
  
"Hey, that's good! Guess he doesn't wanna hurt you anymore, but why are you so uptight about it?"  
  
"That's the thing, I've known Akito long enough to know that he wouldn't just let them come see me. My family's done an awful lot of stuff to him and because I'm apart of the family, he wouldn't let anyone in his family just come to me! He cares for you guys way too much to let anything bad happen." Momiji smiled.  
  
"I knew he loved us, and there really was something that made Akito the way he is now, right? Right? Am I right? Well? Hey, what did your family do to him, though?" She didn't answer the last question, but for the rest of his questions, she slowly nodded her head in response. Even though her mind was still stuck trying to figure out Akito's plans.  
  
"Well, then what are you going to do, now that he let Hatori and Ayame see you I mean?"  
  
"I don't know. I need to figure what's going on with him first, though. That's my first step if I'm gonna prevent him from doing anything harmful to anyone else." Panther stood from her spot with a determined look.  
  
"Hey hear that?" Momiji could hear Panther's name being called.  
  
"Panther? Panther, where are you?"  
  
"Panther? Panther!" Panther stood in confusion until she remembered running off earlier. Smiling, she walked out of the park to where Shigure and the others could see her, Momiji following close behind.  
  
"THERE YOU ARE, I FOUND HER!" Uo ran up to Panther and started asking questions, "Where were you? We've been looking for you all over you know. Why did you run away from Shigure? What did he say to you? What'd he do? You want me beat him up or something? Cause you know I will." Shaking her head no, Panther could see the other seekers running up to them.  
  
"Panther, why did you run? What did I say?" Shigure looked at the now soaked Panther.  
  
"Don't worry about it," she replied to him, but looked at Kyo, "Can we go home?" Her mind switched from Akito's plot to the things Akito said and did to her. She couldn't take all this anymore, back then she didn't really have anyone to comfort her. And now she did. Crying and sniffling, she threw herself onto Shigure.  
  
"Gure, take me home! Please take me home. I'm scared and tired. I wanna go home now, please take me home." Her voice trembled and sounded like a child's. The group stared at her.  
  
"Scared?" Everyone looked at Shigure.  
  
"I don't know. I'll ask her about it tomorrow..." Shigure said.  
  
"I think...I think I might know, but," Kyo stopped what he was going to say as he remembered his promise.  
  
"What is it Kyo?" Tohru asked while at her now asleep sister.  
  
"Yes, I sense something strange is going on, Kyo knows something about Panther that we don't know. However, my electric signals are telling me that it isn't for us to get involved with her situation. We should leave her to deal with this alone...and then when she's better, we'll see." Saki Hanajima spoke calmly and somewhat softly, but loud enough for the others to hear.  
  
"Alright then. If that is so, then we shall wait and see. In the mean time, I think it'd be best if we all went home before we catch a cold, don't you think so?" Shigure picked up the sleeping girl bridal style. They all said their good-byes and left for home.  
  
~*End Of Chapter*~  
  
Okay, well with the next couple chapters, I think I'm nearing the end. That would be a fast story wouldn't it? Well if you like I can try and either make it longer or make another one, LIKE A SEQUEL! :)  
  
BY THE WAY: THANK YOU VERY VERY VERY VERY * WHATEVER THE TOP NUMBER IS SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH FOR REVIEWING! What can I say, I like it when my readers review. Later! 


	5. Dream

BTW: I think I forgot to put this on the first chapter but  
  
I do not own any of the characters belonging to Fruits Basket. However, I do own Panther so back off jerks who want to sue everyone!  
  
~*Chapter 5: Dream*~  
  
"Panther?" A young boy called. It was Akito, when he was younger before he told his secret.  
  
"Yes Akito?" A smaller version of Panther answered softly as she lay in the grass on a hill. Her hair was shorter, mid back to be exact. And her brown eyes were a bit more calm and serene than her present ones.  
  
"I have to..."  
  
"What is it, Akito? You can tell me, you know you can." She sat up next to Akito, looking him the eye with a smile appearing on her face.  
  
"Well, I've always had to push you away whenever...whenever we wanted to hug each other..." His words trailed as he choked, trying to say the rest.  
  
"There's something about you, Akito. I know it, and whatever this thing is, I'm pretty sure that is the reason we can never comfort each other like that. Akito, if you're trying to tell me what that something is...if you're not comfortable with telling me, that's fine. You don't have to, I won't force you." Akito shook his head to her reply.  
  
"No, no! It's not like that, well it is, but. To be honest, I want to tell you and I've always wanted to give you a hug," he blushed, "I just-  
  
"Think that I might despise you for the rest of our lives?" He nodded his head, sadness flickering in his eyes. "Well I won't do that, I promise. And if I do, I promise it won't be because of your reason for not hugging me. Not everyone wants to get or give a hug to certain people. Now if you really want to tell me, then tell me; I'm listening." There was a long pause as they stared deeply into each other's eyes before Akito finally spoke.  
  
"Would you mind doing something that may do something to you, like give you reasons for other people to not hug you? And then I tell you the reason, would you mind?" Panther sat for a few minutes thinking, smiling she nodded her head.  
  
"What are you going to do?" Grabbing a knife out from his back pocket, Akito unsheathed the knife letting the sun reflect off of it.  
  
"Share blood. I've never done this before, but I think that if you had my blood-" She snatched the knife from him and cut her hand. Shock took over him as he watched the blood drip from her hand. After a few moments of recovering and laughing happily, Akito grabbed the knife back from Panther and cut himself on the hand as well.  
  
The two slapped their cut hands together and let the blood flow into each other's veins. After a few minutes, the two took their hands apart and Akito threw his arms around her. Astounded, he let go of Panther and stared.  
  
"It worked? It worked! Panther, it worked! Ha, ha!" He stood up and grabbed her by the hands pulling her up as well.  
  
"Yeah it did, I guess so huh?" The two laughed for a few seconds before Panther stood still and asked, "So what was the reason?" His face paled before he spoke nervously.  
  
"Well, if anyone of the opposite sex hugs me, and isn't apart of the zodiac curse, I turn into one of the animals in the Chinese zodiac. I am the head of the Sohma family and I am the leader of the curse, which means I'll turn into either one of them depending on the year. My family's cursed. Now that you have my blood...well you get the idea." Panther's eyes widened at the information he should've told her first.  
  
"I think you should've told me that first." Panther and Akito turned their heads to the direction of a bush. Laughter was heard coming in the direction; the two children walked up to the bush and found Panther's father, Tic, and her uncle, Loony.  
  
"HA! He believes in curses so much, he thinks he'll turn into an animal?!" The laughter continued.  
  
"Funny, I didn't see them there earlier when we were..." Akito stated to Panther, indicating to when they were sharing blood.  
  
A few moths later, Tic and Loony were looking through some scrolls in their library; they found a cursed scroll. It was meant for cats. The two didn't believe the curse so they put it on the ground and searched for Bru, their cat. Once they found her, they put the cat on top of the cursed scroll. When Loony let go of the cat, she walked all over the scroll and walked out into the kitchen; the two men followed her. She jumped onto a chair and to the counter; she walked to where a knife was set.  
  
She started moving the knife with her nose a bit, moving more to the edge of the counter; the men watched in curiosity. Slowly, Bru moved onto the knife, which was now partially over the edge. She sat and quickly fell, landing on her back with the knife landing straight in her heart. Loony and Tic gasped before leaving the house.  
  
They went to the park where Akito and Panther were playing and kidnapped him. For the next four days, they kept Akito in a lab where Panther couldn't get in. During those four days, they tried to kill Akito, but he fought back and when they were finally able to restrain the cursed boy, they decided to just do experiments on him.  
  
They drugged him, examined him, they even tested a product or two on him. They made things torturous for Akito in there, but one day Tic forgot to tighten a strap that kept him down. Akito was able to get out of the straps and attacked the parents of Panther. Soon after, surely the men were dead and Akito escaped the lab.  
  
Panther's eyes snapped open as she sat up in bed. That was only a dream, a memory. She looked around herself; she was back in her room at Shigure's. The door slid open as Tohru stepped in the room.  
  
"Good, you're awake. You were sweating in your sleep earlier," everything seemed quiet except for Tohru, "You're not feeling well so I think you should stay in bed." Panther tried to speak, but couldn't as Tohru pushed her back to rest.  
  
"It's been a couple days since you fell asleep the other night you know. We thought..."  
  
'A couple days?' Panther stopped listening to what Tohru was saying.  
  
"You should get some more rest little sister."  
  
"Huh?" Panther looked befuddled.  
  
"I said you should get more rest. I don't want your sickness to get worse, I'll leave you to sleep, but I'll check back later." Panther watched her leave as the sun's rays shone on her. Everything was quiet and peaceful, it was as if there was nothing crazy going on.  
  
"Maybe this is all just a dream too." Panther thought to aloud. Akito leapt onto her and bed putting his face close to hers.  
  
"Wrong!"  
  
Panting and sweating, Panther jerked up in her bed and looked around her room. Shigure was standing next to her bed taking care of her.  
  
"Are you all right, Panther?" Panther didn't answer; she just searched the room carefully. She got out of bed and started walking along her walls with her hand tracing it.  
  
"Panther? Panther, what's wrong?" Shigure tried to snap her out of it but nothing happened. She continued tracing the wall with her hands as she looked about the room.  
  
"Akito?" Her voice was shaky as she sought for the man who caused her nightmare.  
  
"Akito?" Shigure noticed her perspiring becoming constant as she called for Akito.  
  
"Akito, where are you?" Suddenly, Akito walked out of the shadows with a scary smirk.  
  
"Hello my dearest Panther." Panther saw him, but Shigure did not.  
  
"Akito, what are you trying to pull?"  
  
"Huh? Oh no, she's hallucinating." Shigure shook Panther's body trying to bring her back to reality but to no avail.  
  
"Akito!" Hatsuharu walked in the room and saw what was happening. He knew she was hallucinating, too, so he did the only thing he thought would help. Wham! He punched her in the face 'successfully' bringing her home.  
  
"Sorry." Hatsuharu apologized. Panther didn't move, her head hung and tears fell. Hatsuharu embraced the unmoving girl. Her tears flew freely, but her mind and body weren't doing anything.  
  
"Panther?" Hatsuharu pulled her from himself and looked at her. He and Shigure gasped at the horrifying sight. There she was, held by Hatsuharu, with her eyes opened and ashen skin. She was dead. Her eyes were still leaking, but she was dead.  
  
Everything turned dark and it was now pitch black. Panther stood wearing a white nightgown searching for something. A girl sat in the middle of the area surrounded by a dim glow. Crying, she hummed a sad tune. Panther tilted her head as she walked over to the crying girl. Tears were forming in Panther's eyes as she tried to forget the dreams she had. She tried to put her hand on the crying girl's shoulder, but it went straight through. She gasped when she heard cackling echo in the darkness.  
  
"Panther. Oh Panther," the voice sang, "Panther, there was something else I haven't told you about my part of my family's curse. This only works for me because I don't have a particular zodiac animal,"  
  
"Akito" Panther tried to call out but instead she choked on her words. He continued with a psycho tone.  
  
"You see Panther, when I shared my blood with you, mm well let's just say that I can communicate with you now. Through the mind, and through your dreams." A pair of black eyes appeared in the darkness as thunder clapped in the background.  
  
"Huh?" Panther was beyond shocked.  
  
"Well how do you think you were able to make Kyo and that nurse see those eyes of hurt? Come on Panther, you know which one I'm talking about. Like what you did to other people, used my blood to make it so that people could only see a pair of eyes. Yes, I know you figured it out, because with my blood being in you, I was able to check up on you every now and then. That's another thing I didn't tell you about.  
  
"And that's how you knew where I lived..." Akito laughed.  
  
"Yes, quite true, dearest. You remember that little girl you saw? Do you know who that was? She was you...yes, that's right, you. Do you know why she was crying? Because she lost her family and gave up the chance to receive kind of comfort she wanted from anyone for just someone. One person, she didn't even think carefully about the options-  
  
"You're right Akito, I didn't. But then again, I didn't know the deal with the curse until after the decision was made!"  
  
"You still could've asked for more time, you know I would've given you that. Oh well! Too late now and actually it sounds like I have to go now. Sweet dreams," Akito then growled her name before laughing and disappearing into the darkness.  
  
Once again, Panther's eyes snapped open and she was sweating. On her bedside were Shigure, Kyo, Tohru, Yuki, Momiji, Hatsuharu, and Ayame, all with concerned looks on their faces.  
  
"Are you all right Ms. Panther?" Yuki asked.  
  
"Yes, I am," she didn't even bother looking around, "Is this place real? Am I still dreaming?"  
  
"No, you're not dreaming, but we heard you screaming. What happened?" Shigure answered.  
  
"Prove this is real." She stared cautiously with hope for the truth.  
  
"You're 14yrs old-  
  
"No, I mean really prove it..." Momiji moved to hug the teenager. Hatsuharu did the same and the three of them stilled.  
  
"Panther," Momiji started, "of course this is real. Why wouldn't it be?"  
  
"And if you really need proof, tell us what kind so we can try and help. We love you Panther." Hatsuharu whispered loud enough for her ears to catch on.  
  
"Thank you. I think that should do." Panther returned their embracement and calmed her breathing. They let go of each other before Momiji and Hatsuharu sat next to her on the bed.  
  
"Now tell us Pan, why did you scream?" Hatsuharu turned her head to face his.  
  
Eyes filled with fear, she said, "I just had a bad dream is all. I'm sorry for worrying you all."  
  
"What kind of a bad dream Panther?" Momiji asked tilting his head.  
  
"Don't worry about it Momiji," she giggled while patting his head, "Guys, I have to go do something. I don't want you to worry or interfere, understood?"  
  
"Are you going to go talk to him?" Kyo asked and she nodded. "Then we should go with you."  
  
"No. I'm going to go alone, I'll explain everything when I get back, ok?" Everyone looked at her questioningly.  
  
"Are you going to fight someone Panther?" Tohru's voice was full of complete concern and worry. She didn't want to lose her little sister again.  
  
"Don't worry about it..." After a bit of convincing about her safety, Panther left the house to go to the Sohma Mansion.  
  
~*End of Chapter*~  
  
Again thanks to all who has read and reviewed, ya'll rock! Thanks. 


	6. The End: I Love You

Ok I know I said in one of the other chapters I'd make a sequel or make the story longer if you wanted me to, but I was already on my train of thought and I kept typing and now this is the last chapter. I'd make a sequel for you, but I don't think I'd be able to.  
  
THANK YOU ALL FOR READING AND REVIEWING, YOU'RE THE BEST!  
  
~*Chapter 6: I Love You; The End*~  
  
"So Kyo, you know what's going on with Panther?" Momiji was pondering on the question before he finally let it out. Nodding his head, Kyo sighed.  
  
"She doesn't want me to tell, ok? She made me promise not to tell anyone." Kyo lay on the house porch with his eyes closed.  
  
"Oh come on Kyo, what if she'll get hurt? C'mon tell us!" Momiji pleaded sitting next Tohru. Everyone was in the room, everyone except Panther that is.  
  
"Kyo, you know what my sister's going to be doing? Please, tell me. What is she going to do? Will it involve her getting hurt?" Tohru choked on tears of fear. Opening his eyes and looking deeply into Tohru's, Kyo gave in to the cries.  
  
"Fine, I'll tell you." He looked up in the sky and started explaining.  
  
"She told me," Panther walked in the rain down a street, "that she knew Akito when she was little. They were close friends."  
  
He continued to explain while during this time, not there, Panther walked under the gray clouds. She finally reached the Sohma Mansion.  
  
"Akito told her about our curse. When he did, Panther's parents were spying on them..." His explanation continued as the rain started to blow a little onto the porch. He went inside and slid the door shut. Unknown to everyone, exactly when he shut the Sohma house door, the doors to the Sohma Mansion opened.  
  
Panther walked pass Hatori's house and to Akito's. Hatori stood from his house watching with bewildered eyes. He followed her from behind. Panther didn't stop until she got to where Akito was. Hatori stood behind the door and spied on the two. Meanwhile, in the Sohma house, they were still talking about Panther and Akito.  
  
"So then...that's how Akito became the way he is now?" Shigure looked surprised. Kyo nodded his head; all of them wondered what Panther WAS doing.  
  
Standing up, Akito turned to face Panther. Smiling, he walked over to his old friend. She stood in silence, glaring at the man before her.  
  
"Panther, do you know how old I am?" He asked for no reason in particular.  
  
"Eighteen."  
  
"And you're fourteen, correct? Four years younger than me, yet I can't..."  
  
"Akito, why are you doing this?" Panther asked in a firm voice.  
  
"Hmm yes, why am I doing this?"  
  
"Is it because of my father and uncle? Akito,"  
  
"DON'T YOU EVER REMIND ME OF THEM, EVER!" Akito yelled at her. Hatori watched in amazement when Akito didn't bother hitting the girl. Usually when one said or did something to upset him, he'd hit them.  
  
"Akito," Back in the Shigure's house, they were getting angry at the fact that Panther had to deal with Akito alone. They didn't know what she was going to do.  
  
"Why Akito? So you can live the rest of your life acting like a psycho?"  
  
"Shut up!" Akito ordered, but she did not heed.  
  
"Well? Are you going to answer me or just stand there?"  
  
"SHUT UP!" Akito's anger grew.  
  
"What is she doing?" Hatori whispered to himself from his hiding spot and continued to watch.  
  
"Akito, you've already killed my whole family!" Choking on tears, she waited.  
  
"YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DID TO ME! LEAVE ME ALONE!" He grabbed his head in pain. "WHY DO YOU WISH TO HURT ME PANTHER? WHY!"  
  
"I don't wish to hurt you Akito, you're the one who's been trying to hurt me. You've threatened me; you've killed the rest of my family, WHO DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT THE CURSE, AND TO TOP IT ALL OF, YOU HAUNTED ME IN MY DREAMS! ON PURPOSE! And made it seem like I was DEAD!" Panther glared with hatred at the man before her.  
  
"SHUT UP! I don't care if that happened to you I don't care! YOU HURT ME FIRST! YOU DESPISED ME PANTHER...you detested me. After you promised not to, you did...you avoided me like you promised you wouldn't." He dropped to his knees holding his head letting the tears flow. Staring in shock, Panther dropped to her knees as well.  
  
"Oh my gosh...you mean, you hated me...because-because you thought I hated...you?" Her body started shaking as she watched Akito cry. Tears formed as she reached out to touch Akito. Hatori from his hiding place arched an eyebrow in curiosity, he'd figure everything out later, but right now he was busy watching this.  
  
"Akito, I'm so sorry. I-I didn't know that was- I thought you were avoiding me. I started to avoid you a little too because you killed my family," She took her hand back and covered pat of her face.  
  
"Akito, listen to me. You killed my father and uncle Loony, they deserved that, but when you went after the rest of my family... I don't know, I just thought that you'd try to come after me too. I didn't like the fact that you killed most of my family, true, I mean after all, you could've just gotten Hatori to erase their memories. But you didn't, so I just thought that you were trying to hurt me somehow and that, when you'd run out of victims, you'd come after me..."  
  
"I was trying to hurt you somehow. The day I killed your family, here, was two days after I escaped from the lab. Every time I tried contacting you, I always got the machine, and you never called back. So I went crazy because of what happened and because you broke your promise." Akito's tears came to a halt while he quietly spoke. Panther's eyes became soft as her tears streamed down her cheeks.  
  
"Akito, after you killed my father and Loony, I was sent to go stay with the rest of my family. I thought you said your blood being mixed with mine helped you know what I've been doing."  
  
"I didn't try it at that time." Panther chuckled catching Akito's attention.  
  
"I've never really hated you, Akito, just afraid."  
  
"Afraid? But...oh." He looked like he was about to cry again when Panther flung herself onto the man before her.  
  
"I don't hate you Akito. I don't."  
  
"Y-you don't?" He stared down at Panther, watching her, as she shook her head no. Smiling, Akito gently returned the hug.  
  
"Panther, I wanna tell you something-  
  
"Okay, but it better be the truth and the WHOLE truth, got it?" The two parted and Akito nodded.  
  
"Let's go for a walk though, okay?" She nodded with a smile. Akito went to change into his turtleneck and blue jeans. When he was done, Hatori left for Shigure's house and the other two went on their walk.  
  
They walked around smelling the sweet grass as the clouds cleared away. The sun shone brightly in the sky. Akito pondered in his thoughts of what to say to Panther while they were at an ice cream parlor. Once she got her ice cream, the continued their walk heading towards Shigure's place.  
  
"Mm. This is good!" Panther licked her sherbet ice cream. "Want some?" Akito looked at it.  
  
'I've never had that flavor before, but she always seemed to pick that one.' Akito took the ice cream cone and licked the ice cream. Apparently he licked too much of it and received a brain freeze.  
  
"Ha, ha! Sorry, but that's funny. By the way, what did you want to tell me?" Smiling, Akito took a glance at her.  
  
"Well, earlier when I was comparing our ages...I admit I like you a lot. Perhaps even love you, but I don't know how you feel about? You probably wouldn't even dare to even try to like me that way, after everything I've done and my age too. Four years apart, you're still a student and I'm an adult-  
  
"Okay well first of all Romeo, I can't believe you forgot my birthday is tomorrow. You just turned 18 so...Secondly, you're right. Our age difference is pretty big, but only by a few; that's not bad. And lastly, don't ever jump to conclusions when it comes to my feelings, got it? Because you know what?" She finished most of her ice cream before speaking again.  
  
"I do like you, aside from your psychoness from before, the part of you I DO know, I like a lot. And hopefully you haven't changed too much, because I'd like for us to be together without too many problems. Sure it's dumb to date someone who's killed your family," he winced, "but it is partially my fault for making you crazier. And besides, that was the past, right? So let's leave it there, please." Akito smiled and gave a small chuckle before bending down to give her a kiss.  
  
"Panther, you've never cease to amaze me, you know that?" Akito looked at her while they were walking. "That ice cream was good, can I have some more?"  
  
"Yes, you may." She gave the rest of the ice cream to Akito to finish as they started walking in the forest. At the Shigure's house, everyone who was there were in the dinning room with the porch door open, letting in some light. Hatori told them what had happened while he was spying on the two and they all felt relieved as well as shocked. They heard laughter and voices coming from the woods.  
  
Stepping out of his house to check it out, Shigure looked in the direction the laughter was coming from. There he saw Akito and Panther merrily walking through the area holding hands while heading over to the house. Shigure smiled and signaled everyone in the house to come out and see. Momiji and Tohru smiled while running over to hug Panther. Hatsuharu let a little jealousy slip but paid no attention to it.  
  
"PANTHER! Are you all right?" Momiji asked while holding the girl.  
  
"Perfectly fine, Momiji. Akito?" Panther smiled to him and he nodded before walking up to the rest of the Sohmas.  
  
"There is something I need to tell you all, call the rest of the family over and we'll all have a little chat." Akito said before they all went inside.  
  
"Hey, Shigure, don't call Kagura over, okay?" Kyo called from the living room. Shigure hung up the phone after the last phone call and said, "Whatever you say Kyo." Within twenty minutes, all of the Sohma family was over at Shigure's house, all except one.  
  
The earth shook as Kagura hurried to Shigure's house. Once she got in there, Kyo tried to run away but was held back by Shigure.  
  
"Kyo, my love!" Kagura ran to Kyo and started swinging him around, not noticing everyone else around. She started beating him now. She stopped for a second and grabbed Kyo by his collar, giving him evil eyes.  
  
"AND DON'T THINK I DIDN'T HEAR YOU ON THE PHONE, LOVE! I HEARD YOU TELL SHIGURE NOT TO CALL ME!" She did a wrestling on Kyo and threw him threw the door when she noticed Akito sitting on one of the porch smiling.  
  
"Akito? What-  
  
"Hello Kagura. Please come with Kyo inside here, I have to tell you all something." Soon everyone was in one area where Akito could talk to him or her.  
  
"What I had to say was, I'm sorry. I'm very sorry for hurting you all. I didn't want to, but I did, so I am really sorry. Will any of you forgive me?" Some of them looked surprised while others smiled.  
  
"Of course we will Akito! We love you. And I knew you loved us too!" Momiji gave one of his cute giggles as he gave Akito a hug.  
  
"This calls for a celebration!" Ayame held up a glass of wine and all the others agreed.  
  
"But we don't have enough food!" Shigure stated.  
  
"I'll go buy some." Tohru grabbed Shigure's wallet and was about leaving when she said, "I'm gonna bring Uo and Hana over, ok?" Shigure agreed to let them come over too.  
  
"Would you like some company?" Yuki offered.  
  
"No thanks, I got it." Tohru left. Yuki looked around the house and noticed something.  
  
"What about the space, though? There's too many of us."  
  
"I'll go get the patio tables out from the closet." Hatsuharu left to get the tables.  
  
"We don't have any juice or milk either, kids can't drink alcohol you know." Momiji said.  
  
"I'll go to the store and get some!" Ritsu left the Sohma house.  
  
"I'll go with you, who knows what trouble you might cause." Shigure left with him. Everybody helped out with preparing and when they were all finished, they started the celebration.  
  
Epilogue  
  
Four years later, Akito purposed to Panther, as did Yuki and Kyo to Tohru. Both girls accepted the proposals; Tohru accepted both Kyo's and Yuki's and they agreed to share Tohru's love. Kyo and Yuki still got in fights and argued a bit, but that was because they couldn't help it, as always. Momiji grew up to be a handsome young man and had his very own fan club at work. Hatsuharu lived in the Sohma Mansion and refused to get a job. Shigure, Ayame, and Hatori are still the same, but now Ayame is able to spend time with Yuki.  
  
Yuki wanted to get to know his brother a bit more and understand why Ayame is the way he is, so he agreed to have bonding days with him. Kagura still beats up Kyo, but she lost her taste in him. Hana worked with Tohru at a mall while Uo and Panther decided to become boxing coaches. Panther figured that the reason why she was able to hug people, who weren't cursed, and not change was could be because she had mostly uncursed blood; truly, no one knew. Yuki was president of one of the Sohma companies; Kyo got his food and everything from nature, except for his clothes and bathing stuff of course; he got those from Yuki's money. Other than that, everything else was a bit the same. Oh and they lived happily ever after, with some problems in the middle of course!  
  
~*End Of Chapter*~ Oh in case any of you got confused, in the beginning of this chapter when it has Panther and Akito talking and then Kyo and people in the Sohma house talking, imagine it like this: While Panther and Akito are the way they are, Kyo is explaining at the same time and you can hear the people in the Sohma house talking while you see Panther and Akito's scene. I hope I didn't confuse you or anything. Again, thank you for reading and reviewing.  
  
~*End of Story*~ 


	7. Double End

I've noticed that lately I've been getting reviews about how Akito is a girl in the manga. Well, thanks for the notice but I've been going off of the Anime Fruits Basket and not the Manga. In the Anime, Akito is male and not female. But I'd also like to point out that even if he WAS female in the Anime also, people need to remember that this is fictional. Fanfiction, I know, but even so, even some people change the genders of a character just to make it more suitable. --- that, however, was not what I was doing. I was going off Anime. Thanks for reading, thanks for the reviews. CyA!

Lotz of Luv!

HokuikaiLily


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